Without
by Miss BBD
Summary: You may remember me from such fics as Inescapable, You and Stranded...well, I'm back!!! What kinds of challenges will I come up with for a sensory deprived Li and Sakura? Let the fun begin. (As always, S+S sugary sweetness...surely you know that by now ;D
1. Default Chapter

Hey folks, it's been a while, huh? Well, I'm back and kickin'. Once again, for those who prefer the Japanese names, I apologize…remember, I'm just a stupid American. Anyway, I hope I'll make up for it with plot and all that fun stuff. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Not my characters…you know the drill…pleez don't take my car away, she's all I got!

****

Without

_May we all pray that we may never be without…_

"Li, would you just listen to me for two seconds???"

"Look, I'm trying to show you what to do!"

"I can handle this, okay?"

"Just read the directions!"

"I can't hear you!"

"Sakura!"  
"Li!"

"Oh, crap!!!"

*SPLAT* 

Tori could hear the argument from all the way on the other side of the house. As he walked in the kitchen, he began chuckling as he saw the entire surface area of the room covered in sticky, messy, chocolaty, brownie mix.

"I can see you two are making progress in here…"

They both glared identical malevolent thoughts at him.

"She wasn't reading the directions right!"

"He didn't listen to me!"

"Just a thought…but you guys just might get more accomplished if you work together," Tori stated simply as he walked out of the room. _Did I just say that to _them_???? I must be going soft._

What had started out as a project for Social Skills class had turned in to a culinary catastrophe. The new class paired up students for the year to work together learning different methods of dealing with people. Their teacher, Mrs. Ayudon had apparently decided that putting together students who didn't get along well would force them to adapt and work together. Their rivalry made Li and Sakura prime targets for this experiment.

To say the least, it had been a little rough.

"First you break our egg baby and NOW you blow up our cooking project!"

"What this is _my_ fault? Besides, I couldn't help the egg…it's not like I'd keep a real baby inside my battle robes during a fight."

"I'm not so sure about that! Does Meilin know what a _great_ father you'll be?"

"Ugh, don't bring her into this!"

"Look let's just clean this up, okay?"

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Good."

"Good."

Sakura sighed deeply and started to mop up the grainy chocolate goo. Why did everything have to be a fight with them? And why did he have to be so damn sexy when he was angry? His eyes were so intense and the way his hair fell in front--_ahhhh, what am I thinking??? I have got to get over this thing. But it would be so much easier to get along with him if a) he would just keep his mouth shut & b) not look at me with those eyes!_

Li was furious. Why didn't that girl ever just listen to him? Then she always blamed it on him! So why did he _really_ want to lick that smudge of chocolate off her pert little nose? He looked at her now, bent over in an apron with her hair all mussed and chocolate all over her…she was gorgeous. _It would be a lot easier to be serious about competing with her if she weren't so…well, beautiful all the time. If all he got from her was her "I can do it mantra" it would be easy to hate her._

Kero snuck downstairs after hearing the ruckus and came upon a sight from his most pleasant dreams: an entire room covered in chocolate. At warp speed his tiny pink tongue licked clean every surface in the room, finishing off with Sakura's nose as she giggled and Li glared at him.

"Thanks Kero," Sakura laughed looking at the sparkling counter.

"Yeah, thanks a lot…" Li muttered.

Kero burped and rubbed his sore tummy, "Any time my friend."

THE NEXT DAY

Madison turned in her desk to smile at a sleepy Sakura.

"I heard we're supposed to be getting some big special project today in Social Skills. By the way, how did your cooking project turn out?"

The _look_ Sakura gave her was answer enough.

"Sakura, if you guys don't get at least one project done right, Mrs. Ayudon isn't going to pass you two!"

"I know, I know!"

"Good morning class."  
"Good morning Mrs. Ayudon."

The willowy, dark haired teacher smiled mysteriously and gestured to the door. Three kids about the same age as the class walked in.

"Class, I want you to meet Becky, Lena, and Michael."

The class responded with a lukewarm "Hi."

"You may not be able to tell it from looking at them, but these three are very special kids. Say hi kids."

Becky smiled and said "Hi," but the students noticed that she seemed to be looking at the ceiling. 

Michael waved, but did not speak.

Lena's arms began to move in a fluid and beautiful motion which the students soon realized was sign language.

Mrs. Ayudon smiled her thanks to the kids.

"Class, there are hundreds of thousands of people in this world who are without certain abilities that we take for granted. Chances are that you will meet many other impaired people in your life. It can be easy to lose patience with these people if you don't understand. Your final project will help you to learn what it is like to live without a sense."

Murmurs began around the classroom.

"Let me finish. You will continue to work in pairs and you will help one another. This will be very difficult since you will both be limited in many ways. This will be one of the greatest challenges of your life."

Li snorted at this.

"Thanks to our new technology grant, we have equipment that will safely and realistically let you experience sensory deprivation. Get in your groups and I'll give you your assignments."

Sakura and Li glanced at each other…they had to do this project right.

They both snickered when Madison began to complain about being assigned to be mute.

Mrs. Ayudon finally came around to them. She looked carefully and with meaning at them both.

"I expect the two of you to work together on this and I hope to see some vast improvement."

"Yes, Mrs. Ayudon."

"Li, blind. Sakura, deaf."

"But--"

"No 'buts' from either of you!"

She stood in the front of the class and began to explain the devices she had passed out.

"The mute strip goes at the base of your throat and prevents you from speaking through mild suppression waves. These 'blinders' go on your temples, they are tiny microbes that block your optic nerves from receiving. And finally, the 'plugs' go in your ear and gentle waves keep your eardrum vibrating at a constant rate without picking up other vibrations. These devices are all safe and your parents have signed permission slips. You will wear them for a week and you will receive assignments or 'challenges' to do during the week. And class, keep in mind that all of the devices _do_ have sensors that tell me if they were removed at any time. This is for real…welcome to hardship. Now, everyone please attach and activate your devices."

Li and Sakura turned to look at each other as they pressed the activation buttons. 

"Well," said Li, "here we g--"

The rest was cut off for Sakura who suddenly heard a horrible, blindingly, deafening, silence.

She tried to talk, but didn't even know if she made a sound or not.

She looked at Li who's intense coppery eyes had suddenly dilated an began to desperately float in every which direction. 

Disoriented, he reached out and grabbed Sakura's arm and mouthed something she couldn't understand. 

Looking around the room, she saw others having similar reactions. Madison looked like she was trying to scream but couldn't.

All the commotion and Sakura couldn't hear a thing. Slightly scared, a tear slipped from her eye and, hearing her sniffle, Li groped around until he found her face and when it felt wet he patted her cheek and smiled in what he hoped was her general direction. 

Sakura was shocked at this showing of kindness over her stress and she reached out and squeezed his hand in thanks.

Sakura began to guide Li towards the door and out of school which was done for the day. Since they were both uncomfortable with the idea of holding hands, Li rested his hand on Sakura's shoulder and held on to her elbow with his other hand. They had to walk fairly close so Li wouldn't trip and Sakura blushed at the contact, grateful that Li couldn't see it. 

"Well," Li muttered to himself, "this is going to be an interesting week."

Sakura looked at him with confusion that he couldn't see.

__

This will be an interesting week.

Well, that's chapter 1 ya'll! So what do you think? Do you think? ;) I haven't done this in a while so tell me how I'm doing so far. More to come and soon. What kinds of challenges await them? And you all know how I love a good challenge situation! (devilish grin) See you in a few 

~Miss BBD


	2. The first day

Disclaimer: yada yada yada blah blah blah not my characters…aw, just take the last of my money, I defy you!

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Without

Sunlight crept across the sheets, bringing a glowing warmth. It lit upon a peaceful face with it's bright rays and a sparkling green eye cracked open.

__

Oh, crap…

One bad thing that Sakura suddenly realized about being deaf was that she couldn't hear her alarm clock going off. She had 5 minutes to get ready and she was supposed to help Li walk to school this morning. Doing the fastest morning routine of her life, she was on wheels and out the door without hearing her father's morning greeting.

It was a strange sensation going so fast and feeling the wind sweeping around you without being able to hear it. No sound of rubber wheels crushing tiny stones on the pavement. She skated past a group of happy children and could not hear their laughter.

Skidding up to Li's door, she panted for breath.

He was there waiting and started to feel his way towards her when he heard her pull up. He had apparently had a difficult morning too. He was wearing hideously mismatched orange and green socks with his uniform and his hair was even more unruly than usual. He had a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes. 

Sakura wondered why he didn't have a walking stick of some sort to guide him. She wanted to ask him but wasn't sure she could. For the first time since losing her hearing, Sakura tried to ask a question. She knew how to talk of course, but it was hard to tell what kind of sounds her throat was forming.

Li heard Sakura trying to talk and listened, turning to the direction the sound was coming from. It sounded something like: "Eeee, aye onn uu aawe a aaline ikk?" Li put an exaggerated confused expression on his face so she would know that he hadn't understood her. 

Sakura sighed. Obviously the talking thing wasn't working, so she'd just have to find alternate means of communication. Looking around, she found a small twig on the ground. Picking it up, she skated over to Li. Taking his hand and turning it palm side up, she used her finger tips to trace on his skin.

Li shivered slightly as he felt Sakura's soft hands take hold of his. She was trying to ask him something. He concentrated on what she drew into his palm: a question mark (why), she poked him in the chest (you), N-O (no), she wrapped his fingers around her wrist (hold), she made her fingertips "walk" across his outstretched hand (walking), finally she placed the twig in his hand (stick). _Why you no hold walking stick. _Li nodded his head in understanding. He pointed to himself and shook his head and at the same time slowly mouthed the words "I don't need a walking stick!" Sakura shook her head and rolled her eyes but left it at that. _Come to think of it, that just means that I'll have to be his walking stick. _*smirk*

They arrived at school extremely late, of course and everyone else was already in class. As the two of them stumbled in Mrs. Ayudon informed the class (both by speaking and by writing on the board) that being to class on time was the first test.

__

Great, our two heroes found their seats and slumped down. 

During class, Sakura's eyes continued to drift over to Li. He had taken the sunglasses off, but his eyes were frighteningly vacant. He really was beautiful, she decided with a smile. _At least I can stare at him now without getting caught._

She noticed that he was reaching for a piece of paper and a pen. He quickly and sloppily scrawled a note and passed it over to her. It read: _Stop staring at me, Sakura._

Amazed, her emerald eyes grew huge and her mouth gaped…how did he know??? 

He wrote another line: _I can feel you breathing towards me._ Then he turned an evil smirk her way. It lost some of the effect when he wasn't looking directly at her, but she got the point. She stuck her tongue out and faced away in a humph. 

Li smiled to himself. It would have been nice to hear her yelling at him…huh? Who would have thought he'd ever miss the sound of Sakura's voice. Or her face. Or the way that strands of her golden hair would hang in front of her gorgeous green eyes or…_Woah, need to get away from that line of thought!_ Staring into blackness all the time was boring though. 

Not far off, a force was growing…sensing…planning. Now was the time. The card captors were incapacitated and it would be all too easy to have a little fun without being caught. _Blind and deaf, hah! One couldn't see and the other wouldn't know if you were about to chop her head off from behind. They certainly wouldn't be able to communicate. My brethren were caught because those brats communicated too well and fought as one, well this should change things a little. Hahaha. Only a matter of time._

Well, folks. That's all for now. More soon, I promise. Just so you know, reviews honestly inspire me to get those chapters out. More S+S mushiness to come. See ya soon.


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